1
Dramatic structure of a trageDy
Exposition
The exposition introduces important information to the
audience that is vital to the unfolding action of the play.
Exposition can also feature ‘incluing’ which ‘clues’ the
audience into the world of the play. Central themes and
ideas are also conveyed and the atmosphere for the play is
established.
A shakespearean tragedy traditionally
follows the Freytag pyramid of Dramatic
structure which consists of five parts.
Freytag’s analysis is derived from Aristotle’s
poetics that had a three-part view of a plot
structure. the five parts are: Exposition,
Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action and
Denouement.
in the boxes, outline the particular moments
or scenes in
Macbeth
that correspond with
the five parts of the plot structure.
Rising ACtion
At the beginning of the rising action the conflict is
introduced and an incident occurs that sets the rising
action in motion. Throughout the rising action a series of
events occur that lead to the climax. It is at this point in
the play that the tragic hero suffers from their fatal flaw in
character and makes er rors of judgment.
